This One Is About Dr. Ron Paul (Ratpublican-Texas)

Dr. Paul's wacky fan base is having a virtual fund-raising event tomorrow, the Fifth of November. That's Guy Fawkes Day in the U. K. We can probably trust Wikipedia on this one:

Guy Fawkes (13 April 1570 – 31 January 1606), was a member of a group of English Roman Catholics who attempted to carry out the Gunpowder Plot, an attempt to blow up the Houses of Parliament and kill King James I of England, to destroy Protestant rule by killing the Protestant aristocracy, on 5 November 1605.

(Guy Fawkes was hanged, then drawn & quartered for his anti-gov't. troubles. Can we recommend anything less for Dr. Paul & some of his more, shall we say, active supporters?)

Dr. Paul is a veritable Rudy "The Catholic" Giuliani, invoking terrorism for fund-raising. It's just that the Doctor goes back to the 17th century for his favorite attempt at terrorism. Not the only trip he takes far into the past for positions & policies. The good doctor (& especially his barely post adolescent fan-base) are nonetheless wise to the weasel-wide web. For example, some of the Internet denizens who favor Ron are credit card scammers. (Isn't Lyndon LaRouche in the big house for credit card fraud w/ the card numbers of his supporters?) From KXAN in Dallas:

"She said, 'Somebody by the name of Ron Paul has been trying to take $5 out of your account using this number,'" Ruffino said. As it turns out, credit card thieves used Ruffino's card to run a test charge, with the money going to the Ron Paul presidential campaign fund.
Here's how it works: Thieves gather stolen credit card numbers online and run the test charges to see which numbers work. If the charge goes through, they know they have an active card.
Representatives for the Ron Paul campaign said they have discovered more than a dozen mysterious $5 contributions in the past three days. They said they're working with banks to return the money.

We see true libertarianism here, don't we? No, not Doc P.'s actual employees, but his card scamming fans: "I'm getting mine, & I don't need any gov't. regulation to tell me how to get my money!"

Other activities his unofficial supporters appear to be up to:

Spam supporting presidential hopeful Ron Paul filled inboxes this week as zombie computers spewed thousands of messages to recipients, according to spam experts. The spam supporting Paul was sent using the same illegal spam methods used to distribute masculinity enhancement products and pump-and-dump penny stock schemes.
[...]
In this case, the Ron Paul 2008 Presidential Campaign Committee vigorously denies sending the spam, approving its distribution, or having any ties to its senders. Security experts analyzing the deluge agree the official organization is likely not the source.
Or, as everyone discussing the deluge noted, the spam may have been sent by someone trying to make Paul look bad by associating him with spamming.

As the saying goes, w/ friends like these you don't need enemies. But it's all good, they're just refusing to knuckle under to pernicious gov't. regulation. "If I know how to send spam from someone else's computer & they haven't made the choice to educate themselves on how to defend their computer and taken the steps necessary, that's just too bad for them. An' we don' need no stinking gummint makin' no regulations 'bout it, neither nohow!!"
Halloween Wrap-Up:
Which do you find more frightening, the jack o' lantern above, or the Official Portrait from The 109th Congress, on the right?